Chicago Bears fans who follow the team every day probably have a good idea of who the biggest critics are out there. Guys who just have a tendency to dig on the Bears whenever they possibly can for one reason or another. One of the more notorious of these types is Gregg Rosenthal, a longtime columnist for NFL.com. He’s been among the more outspoken regarding this team, criticizing moves made by GM Ryan Pace. So you know it’s serious when Rosenthal actually praised Pace and the Bears for a move. This is exactly what he did after their trade for Nick Foles.
Not only did he like the move, seeing it as a clear upgrade over Mitch Trubisky. He believes it puts the Bears directly on track for a playoff push.
“It’s amazing how quickly conventional wisdom can change about a quarterback. Perhaps Nick Foles shouldn’t have been ranked as high as he was on our free agent list last year, but the utter dismissal of his talent this year is going too far in the other direction.
Mitchell Trubisky and Foles are not equals, which is why the Bears were willing to send over a fourth-round pick for Foles before working on a restructured (presumably reduced) contract with him, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo…
…Perhaps Trubisky will be allowed to start Week 1 out of loyalty, but Foles will wind up playing for the Bears and making them a better team when he does.”
Nick Foles has something Trubisky doesn’t
The reality is Foles wasn’t the guy many were hoping for. He’s not the white knight riding in on the horse to save this organization from their blunder on drafting Trubisky back in 2017. However, he could be the mercenary who navigates them out of trouble at a hefty price. Not ideal but far better than the alternatives. Foles does have one thing in his favor.
Steadiness.
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While he does have his share of lows at times, they aren’t spectacular lows. He’s an average quarterback 60% of the time and an above-average quarterback 35% of the time. That last 5% is a quarterback who gets hot and can deliver hot streaks of MVP-caliber play. We saw in 2013 when he threw 27 touchdowns in 10 games. Then we saw it again in 2017 when he carried the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl title.
Everybody feels the Bears can win with an average QB given their defense. Foles can be that. If they happen to get glimpses of that guy from three years ago along the way? That would be the cherry on the sundae.
